One Chance In A Billion
by AuroraGoddess
Summary: Xena and Ares see each other after Coming Home. A very short vignette.


One Chance In A Billion  
By Aurora Goddess  
Summary: Xena and Ares see each other after Coming Home. A very short vignette. (This was a response to a fanfic challenge on Xena Online Community. The fanfic had to happen as a "hidden scene" at the end of a XA shipper episode BUT the story could not change the show's canon.)  
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. This is for entertainment only.

One in a billion was all it was.

That evening on the hilltop, the light fading softly around them. She'd kissed him then, their lips damaged and bruised from their conflict, their hands entwined in a gentleness far too rare. A hopeful chance of togetherness was spoken, a sad goodbye felt, and they parted.

And a chance remained.

--

Darkness settled on the forest. Xena moved through the shadows, quiet footsteps paving a path through the thick underbrush. She didn't know where she was headed only that a stroll in the dark would help her restless mind. Her body wouldn't allow her sleep until she'd satisfied the jumbled thoughts swirling around in her head.

And in her heart.

Thoughts of him, thoughts of them. A barrier had come down that day; a silent aching had grown in her heart--this was the man who'd saved her life and her loves; this was the man whom she had died for in return.

It was all so confusing.

The cool air of the night would clear her mind. It would do her some good.

It had to.

--

She reached the edge of the forest; a darkened valley lay below. The moon peaked through the scattered clouds allowing patches of light to reach the ground.

A lone tent stood near the base of the hill. A light came from within it, glowing low in the dim light. A shadow reflected a human silhouette onto the tent wall. Someone was moving around inside.

Xena squinted her eyes. The flap of the tent opened up and light came flooding out before immediately receding back into the darkness.

That's when she saw him.

--

Finding relief for an aching body was never easy.

Ares flexed the muscles of his left arm as he sat down on a small, rickety stool. One taught tended after another cried out for relief. Bruised knuckles, an aching back, a throbbing head. Mortality would surely be the death of him.

A white cloth soaked with steaming hot water from an iron kettle had to help. He hoped.

Wrapping the warm cloth around his forearm brought him momentary relief as he instantly felt every muscle in his arm relaxing. A sigh of relief escaped his lips and he leaned back against the tent, letting his eyes relax and close, letting the soothing heat work its magic on his badly aching mortal flesh.

Maybe it wouldn't be the death of him after all.

A twig broke as the sound of delicate but purposeful footsteps approached. Shaken from his relaxed state, he jerked forward and stood.

The silhouette of a curved and toned form appeared only four steps away but it was enough, in the darkness, to disguise the figure from a clear view.

The familiarity was apparent, however.

He relaxed his pose. "I didn't think I'd see you again so soon."

She stepped out from the shadows.

"Likewise."

Silence crept between them and around them. Forming the words that needed to be said was always the hardest challenge for them. For Xena.

"Why did you come?"

He spoke with a purpose, the sound of his voice swept away in the breeze. He needed to know why she was there. Why she had come.

"I went for a walk. I saw you and..."

Any more honesty and she might say something she'd later regret.

"I wanted to see how you were."

The calmness of her voice soothed him for a moment. As much as he didn't want to display his bodily discomfort that made him feel weak and helpless to anyone else, in front of Xena it felt all right.

He sat down on the stool. The cloth around his arm was losing its heat already, and the aching of his muscles was returning.

Xena reached out and touched his aching arm. She stood above him just as she had on that hilltop. Gentle and soft; her fingers grazing the sore spots of his skin. Her nearness to his body had him drawing in a staggered breath.

"Still hurts?" She uttered gently, calmly.

They had been through this before.

He saw the swell of her breasts against her leather shift--the absence of her armor giving a much more feminine curve to her form--and he drew in another quick breath. He wanted her more than she could ever understand.

"Still hurts," he replied, looking up at her. There was weight to his words, a tenderness in his eyes. It hurt in his heart as much as it ever did in his muscles.

Her gaze was directed sideways, however, as she slowly removed the cloth from his arm and began rubbing his arm with the tips of her fingers, creating small circles across the skin in a gentle massage.

Ares felt immediate relief, much more than the cloth could ever do for him. She had a heat of her own, and she knew how to alleviate the burdens of the mortal body. And more.

"Better?"

"Much."

He opened his eyes and looked up at her. This time, she was looking back. Her eyes shinned in the moonlight. She could not look more beautiful than she did at that moment.

He touched her arm with his other hand. He could feel the slight quiver under her skin.

Then he kissed her.

Gentle, the same as she had given him only hours before. She opened her mouth to his kiss and returned the caress.

He trailed his hand up the side of her arm toward her neck to pull her closer and she placed her hand against his chest, pulling back from his lips.

"Ares..."

He could feel her muscles trying to push him away yet her body was still touching him.

His hand was behind her head now. "Don't walk away again."

His tone was almost desperate. She could see his eyes darkening in the dim light and for a moment, all she could do was stare.

Before she knew it, his lips were on hers in a passionate, claiming kiss. Hard, but not rough. He closed his mouth around hers; she pushed her lips against his in an equally powerful kiss, setting the rhythm for them both.

All coherent thought disappeared as quickly as the cool breeze around them.

--

The small frame creaked under the weight as Ares lowered Xena down onto the bed in his tent.

Their lips never stopped touching.

Her heart pounded loud in her chest.

He pulled her as close as he could get her, wrapping his arms around her, feeling her warmth, the warmth of both of them. He kissed her so passionately, so possessively, that she couldn't do anything but kiss him back.

She could no longer resist.

He trailed his lips along the tender skin of her neck, feeling her pulse. She gasped at the sensation and raised her hips toward him.

--

The rhythm of her breaths were slow and calm as she lay draped across his chest, her eyes closed in sleep.

He watched her chest rise and fall, felt her steady breath on his skin and her warmth pressing against him, feeling her in every part of his body.

He could never be happier than he was at that moment.

"I love you," he whispered.

Xena was smiling in her sleep.

--

Xena stood outside the tent. The morning light blanketed her in a soft glow; the leather of her outfit hugged her form. The swollen purplish marks of passion were strewn across the smooth, tender flesh of her neck, the exposed skin of her full breasts and collarbone. And there was more of what couldn't be seen.

From behind, Ares grazed her neck with his lips, kissing the spots he had claimed as his own the night before. Xena closed her eyes at his touch.

"Morning," he whispered breathily into her ear.

Stepping back, she turned toward him. He, too, had purplish marks on his skin, a rather large one just above his waistline.

Her hair hung over her shoulders and she seemed to radiate in the soft morning light surrounding her.

"This is goodbye, right?" Ares' voice was calm but still rather sad.

"It is."

He reached toward her, tracing the curve of her neck with his finger. "Will I see you again?"

There was a moment of silence. She didn't know what might happen.

"Maybe."

Even after that night, words between them could still be difficult for her.

"So was this why you came back?"

She turned toward him.

"No..."

Ares' face fell as he began to realize that perhaps he had let things go too far with her that night. His desire and his desperate need for her had taken him over. He thought Xena had felt the same.

"I see," he said quietly, looking away. It was the only thing he could do to hide his face from her now.

Then she touched his chin with her finger, leaned forward and kissed him softly.

When she pulled back, he was happy. Content. The light returned to his eyes.

"...but sometimes...everything doesn't always end up the way you planned."

One in a billion was all it was.

One in a billion was not what it would always be.

END


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